Tawe 08-01-2005
[ Photos are here. ]
Flooding in North Wales and the Lakes and Harvey drops out because there won’t be enough water ! The initial plan of the Tawe looks doubtful on Friday evening as it has stoically avoided raining near Swansea, instead Tony finds a ditch near Aberystwyth that he swears will have water. I need to be in Bristol by 3pm so even with a 7:30am start west Wales is a no go for me. Fortunately the overnight rainfall radar shows heavy rain near Swansea and we manage to convince Tony there’ll be enough water. However, the extended discussion means it’s 7:45 before we leaves and then we have to take a detour as the high winds have shut the M48, my 3pm return is already looking doubtful.
Tony and Rich spend the whole drive there reminding me that if there isn’t water I’m a dead man. Fortunately we get there to find there is plenty of water as the river is out of its banks in places. Tony and Rich’s macho talk tails off and the grade V section is ruled out after Rich’s second trip to the loo. Heading up the valley the river is clearly on the drop as it’s well within its banks higher up. When we get to the gauge Nick informs us it’s about the same level as when they did it so now we can’t not do the top gorge. Eventually we get to the top and the river looks like a tiny stream but despite that the first few slides still look fun. For those left on the top of a windswept hillside the shuttle seems to take forever although Reg and Rich seem to find something to do in the bothy, we were too embarrassed to ask what.
Once on the river it dropped quickly over a set of slides one of which Tony decided to see if he could roll on but there wasn’t enough water. The river continued in the same way until the first portage around a 15 foot drop complete with tree in the pool. Once past this we’re into the gorge and the river and tree infestation picks up. The best rapid has to be a 100 metre long slide which I ran blind as Nick decided to hog the last eddy, fortunately there weren’t any trees and going first allowed me to fire off a few shots on the new camera. Immediately after the mega slide was another drop with rocks in all the wrong places. Despite the slightly tricky line Reg clearly felt it was too easy and decided to spice it up by running it backwards. A few more drops led to a tight slot between the bank and a tree, most of us got caught up in some way, I only got off with an interesting limbo and Reg needed help from Mat who decided once out of his boat that carrying it around was the best route. This turned out to be a wise choice as a little later on he decided to roll under a tree and is lucky to be here today after a well judged swim through the tree. A few more slides and tree dodges and we’re out of the upper gorge just the lower to do now.
Now we discover the Tawe’s hidden secret, it has a very long flat stretch in the middle. After what seems like an eternity a few small weirs start appearing and then the river starts dropping over some very impressive slabs most of which can be read from the boat. This really is great fun but with another 6 inches of water some of the holes could get more than a little grippy. We’re all relaxing and having fun, afterall we’ve done the grade V gorge so this must be easy. Sure enough it is unless you follow Tony who decides to punch the biggest hole on the river. Unfortunately Reg didn’t realise how grippy it was and it decided to play with him, to his credit all he failed to do was roll having worked his way out, his head bobbing up just as he washed into the eddy. Once Reg is reunited with his boat we paddle round the corner to find the get out. Once at the car I realise it’s 1:45 and I’ve missed my deadline, needless to say the guys were supportive as I informed my partner I wouldn’t be back until 4pm and I’d have managed if they’d re-opened the M48 bridge, sadly they hadn’t.
I was joined on the Tawe by Tony Barrass, Rich Gunton, Reg Moriss, Nick Clendon and Mat Jones.
Richard Puttock